Injured Aveyime Police commander evacuated to Accra after secessionist raid on armoury
The Aveyime District Police Commander who sustained injuries during an a dawn attack by alleged secessionist on the police station in the Volta Region has been evacuated to the Police Hospital in Accra for treatment.
A joint team of police and military men are also on manhunt for alleged members of the Homeland Study Group Foundation who raided the Aveyime Police Station’s and stole weapons from its armoury.
A joint statement issued by the two security services said at about 2 am on September 25, elements of the HSGF attacked the Aveyime and Mepe police stations.
They mounted roadblocks on the Juapong-Accra and Sogakope-Accra main roads, thereby causing huge vehicular traffic on the major road leading to Ho and other parts of the Volta and Oti Regions.
In response to the unlawful act, the statement said a joint military-police team together with other security services have been deployed to the area.
The Security team have since succeeded in apprehending 31 members of the group.
“These arrested persons have since been brought to Accra for interrogation,” it said.
Meanwhile, one person is reported dead and three others injured as a result of an exchange of fire between the security services and members of the secessionist group.
The injured members of the group have also been sent to the Ho Teaching Hospital in the Volta Region.
Meanwhile, the statement said the all the roadblocks have been cleared to pave way for travelers to and from Ho and Accra and other parts of the country who ply that major road and the security agencies have taken full control of the highways and strategic installation in the region.
While many Ghanaians have attributed the incident to an intelligence failure, the statement said the police had thwarted part of the plans of the group on Thursday, September 24.
“It is hereby stated that an earlier pre-emptive operation on Thursday foiled a plan by the group to burn the Ho Central Market and other key installations, “it said.
The statement assured the public that the country’s intelligence agencies were in firm control of the situation and remained undaunted in their resolve at preserving and protecting the sanctity of the country.
It, however, urged the public to remain calm and also volunteer any relevant information on the activities of the Group for necessary action to be taken.
A few weeks after members of secessionist group, Homeland Study Foundation erected signposts in some communities in the Eastern Region, the group has surfaced again and alleged to have blocked major roads leading to the Volta and Oti regions.
Travellers entering the region were stranded at areas including Kpong, Tefle, Tsopoli and Juapong as members of the group, carrying its flag blocked roads and seized mobile phones from commuters to prevent them from taking pictures or videos.
The situation created traffic on the Akosombo-Kpong, Accra-Aflao and Ho-Mepe roads.
In the past, the Homeland Study Group Foundation (HSGF), a separatist group had announced a breakaway of parts of the Volta Region, Oti Region, Northern Region and Upper East as an independent state called Western Togoland.
READ ALSO: Separatist Movement Declares Independence For Western Togoland
The Police on September 3, 2020, confiscated signposts and billboards erected in the Eastern Region encouraging secessionism.
The boards bore the inscriptions ‘Welcome to Western Togoland’ and ‘You are leaving Western Togoland’.
The signposts were found erected in the early hours of Thursday, September 3, 2020, at Akorley in the Yilo Krobo District of the region.